CubETH

CubETH
Type:	Cubesat
Country:	Switzerland Switzerland
Operator:	ETH Zurich, EPFL and HSLU T&A
Mission dates
Dimensions:	1.3 kilograms
Begin:
Flight duration:	7 months to 7 years
Status:	deferred
Orbit data
Track height:	approx. 450-550 km

3D model from CubETH. The GNSS antennas are white, the solar cells are blue. The model was produced on a 1: 4 scale with a 3D printer.

CubETH is a project to develop a satellite in Cubesat format that was initiated in 2014 by various universities in Switzerland . Carried GNSS antennas and receivers should enable an exact determination of the flight path and the flight attitude . The special feature of CubETH is said to be the use of COTS receivers. Due to delays in the development of the CubETH, this technology has meanwhile been tested elsewhere.

aims

CubETH was designed as a technology demonstration mission and was intended to provide evidence that COTS receivers can be used for precise orbit determination in space. For this purpose, a module has been developed that is to calculate the flight path and the attitude on board the satellite and send it together with raw data to a ground station on earth. The evaluation of the raw data on earth should enable an initial check of the correct functioning of the satellite. The satellite is to be equipped with SLR reflectors for independent control .

construction

The satellite design corresponds to the Cubesat standard and is therefore a 10 cm × 10 cm × 10 cm cube. Four GNSS antennas are provided on the top of the satellite. The sides are to be equipped with solar panels for power generation, with one of the sides accommodating a fifth GNSS antenna. The communication antenna, which is required for the connection to the ground station, should be attached to the bottom. The entire on-board electronics would be located inside the satellite, including the actual payload, the GNSS receiver. The draft provides for CubETH to be equipped with a total of 10 receivers from the manufacturer u-blox for redundancy reasons . These receivers are characterized by their small size, their low weight and their low power consumption. However, they are not explicitly certified for space applications.

Project partner

The project management is based at the Institute for Geodesy and Photogrammetry at ETH Zurich . Further project partners are the ETH Lausanne , the University of Lucerne , the University of Applied Sciences Rapperswil and the University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland . Swiss industrial partners are also participating in the project.

status

Due to delays in the development of the CubeSAT, the ETH decided to test its receiver module with satellites from the Swiss company astrocast instead .

Web links

ETHZ project website (English)
Tages-Anzeiger : Spaceship from Hönggerberg (2015)

Individual evidence

^ According to information from the project manager at ETH Zurich on May 6, 2019.
↑ Anton B. Ivanov et al .: CubETH: low cost GNSS space experiment for precise orbit determination. (PDF) The 4S Symposium 2014, April 2014, p. 2 , accessed on December 19, 2014 (English).

[1] According to information from the project manager at ETH Zurich on May 6, 2019.

[ivanov-2] Anton B. Ivanov et al .: CubETH: low cost GNSS space experiment for precise orbit determination. (PDF) The 4S Symposium 2014, April 2014, p. 2 , accessed on December 19, 2014 (English).